Stevie Gerrard and CM

[Baldemort]

Mash has been poor most of this season. I'd rather drop him and keep Kuyt on the right, regrettably.

[ukfootballfan101]

Hamburg were offering £16m for Kuyt in the summer, we could have used that along with the money we used on Keane to get Robinho...

So we could have lined up with Torres on his own, behind him Riera, Gerrard and Robinho, and behimd them Mascherano and Alonso...

Its a shame, I'm a big fan of Kuyt and Keane, but if it was a choice between them two and Robinho, I'd take Robinho...

[Marky]

A true enigma. The greatest player we have, yet the cause of much problems.

I look closely and I see our greatest problems being our biggest weakness. There is no doubt in my mind that whilst central midfield is our strongest position it causes to many problems.

It seems that Rafa feels the need to play 3 of Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano and Lucas. I can see why, some top players there, but it is not always the best players that win games, it's the best team.

Against Stoke we should be 442. I can think of god knows how many ways we could have played it ahead of what was picked.

Due to Alonso being injured I would have gone with Stevie in the centre with Mascher and Keane and Kuyt up front.

But in future I must say I would seriously consider playing Stevie on the right. It's a crying shame to do it, but in a 442 we still have Alonso and Mascherano who can play in the middle and Torres and Keane up front. That would leave Gerrard on the RW. I don't like it, but put Gerrard in anyother posiion and we have to take one of the other 4 out and put Yossi on - who is in my opinion not a Liverpool class player.

We have two top strikers - Keane and Torres
We have two top class midfielders - Mascherano and Alonso
We have two top class Left wingers - Riera and Babel
We have a superb defence and 'keeper.

We have ****ing no one for the right midfield. I'd rather we signed one but that aint gonna happen. Maybe it's time to dampen down our best player in order to make the best team.

Quality post sir and i agree with alll your points.
Yes it's maybe not Gerrard's best position but i'd play him wide right for a few games myself with Mascherano and Xabi in CM with Riera on the left.
Torres and Keane upfront.
That would be my midfield and attack against Everton.
ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK.

[Craig_H]

A true enigma. The greatest player we have, yet the cause of much problems.

I look closely and I see our greatest problems being our biggest weakness. There is no doubt in my mind that whilst central midfield is our strongest position it causes to many problems.

It seems that Rafa feels the need to play 3 of Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano and Lucas. I can see why, some top players there, but it is not always the best players that win games, it's the best team.

Against Stoke we should be 442. I can think of god knows how many ways we could have played it ahead of what was picked.

Due to Alonso being injured I would have gone with Stevie in the centre with Mascher and Keane and Kuyt up front.

But in future I must say I would seriously consider playing Stevie on the right. It's a crying shame to do it, but in a 442 we still have Alonso and Mascherano who can play in the middle and Torres and Keane up front. That would leave Gerrard on the RW. I don't like it, but put Gerrard in anyother posiion and we have to take one of the other 4 out and put Yossi on - who is in my opinion not a Liverpool class player.

We have two top strikers - Keane and Torres
We have two top class midfielders - Mascherano and Alonso
We have two top class Left wingers - Riera and Babel
We have a superb defence and 'keeper.

We have ****ing no one for the right midfield. I'd rather we signed one but that aint gonna happen. Maybe it's time to dampen down our best player in order to make the best team.

My only gripe with Gerrard on the right, is that Mascherano and Alonso dont offer enough goal threat from the middle.

[DannyMan2006]

I think we should line up with Alonso & Gerrard as our first choice central midfield. Mascherano hinders our game when we're faced with a team parking the bus in front of their goal.

In an ideal world I too would have Stevie in the centre. I stand by that point. But I think you'll struggle to find a better midfield pairing than Javier and Xabi. Yes, there are better ones, but not many. Against the Top sides we could always revert back to last seasons line up.

But agaisnt the poorer teams I think we need more goal scoring options. Gerrard himself proved his goal return does not suffer when on the right. At present we are relying on Gerrard and Torres to score, the others get the odd one every now and again. With te addition of Keane (played in his best position) we would then get another regular scorer on the pitch.

Such is Keanes willingless to drop back he would likely provide cover for a free roaming Gerrard anyhow, as would the ultra defensive Mascherano who was not in the team last time out Gerrard was on the right.

If we sign a RW (such as Kuba) then I'd be happy to revert to Gerrard in the middle, but with te current squad I see that as the best line up.

As someone else said, there would have been no problem had we signed a top RW instead of Keane. We could have stuck with last seasons formation with the added bonus of creativity and goals on the right. But hindsight is no good to anyone.

Really it's about time Benitez trusted his team to get the goals to win games.

[barnes10]

i've reconsidered.

all we're really saying here is that we didnt need keane, we needed that 20 mill on a top class right winger. simple.

[redlancer]

My only gripe with Gerrard on the right, is that Mascherano and Alonso dont offer enough goal threat from the middle.

I'd disagree re Alonso - he can get forward more and not only shoots but can bring into play other attackers and Stevie.

Stevie on the right is like all our other RW, they come in field.

[DannyMan2006]

I'd disagree re Alonso - he can get forward more and not only shoots but can bring into play other attackers and Stevie.

Stevie on the right is like all our other RW, they come in field.

With the added bonus that he is fast, can cross and can also score from anywhere on the pitch.

[JohnDoe]

I understand people advocating Alonso-Masch, and they are the best choice for many games. However, they are not our best choice when we're playing an inferior side at home. We don't need the extra protection Masch gives us.

Look at the mancs. I'd say that based on form, their best central midfield consists of Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick. They are not exactly tough tackling individuals, even though Carrick is underrated in that department. They certainly don't provide them with better protection than Alonso/Gerrard, but it works for them. Their only natural defensive midfielder is Hargreaves, and they use him sparingly.

I prefer Alonso starting attacks from the back than having the responsibility of going forward when he's paired with Masch. He seems more comfortable sitting back ala Pirlo.